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January 17, 2017

Microsoft did everything in its capacity to get user to take advantage of the update that is free Windows 10. It even nagged and fooled people in order to get them on-board before it absolutely was too late. This didn’t exactly look at well with those that wished to stay with their old, reliable type of Windows. Microsoft is now calling out anybody who passed on the update and Windows that is still using 7 especially those in an enterprise setting. It says that operating system is outdated, as well as with patches, it is not safe and secure enough.Windows 7 was launched in 2009, offering a reprieve through the nightmare that has been Vista. This OS update not merely cleaned up lots of the junk that is unnecessary Windows, it streamlined the device to make it run better on low-power netbooks. Those were really hot at that time. Now, not so much. Windows 7 also introduced the taskbar that is new “Aero” window management, and libraries.Microsoft seems determined to not end in another Windows XP situation, which required several support extensions to ensure the company wasn’t leaving too many users behind. It absolutely was finally in a position to end official support for XP in 2014, almost 13 years after it was released. Now, you merely get active support and updates for XP in case your business has an custom that is expensive contract with Microsoft. Right now, Windows 7 has extended support guaranteed through 13, 2020 january. After that, no more public patches will be rolled out. Although, Microsoft says the general public patches is probably not enough to keep Windows 7 safe anyway.

Markus Nitschke, the head of Windows at Microsoft Germany posted a rundown of the situation on Microsoft’s Technet site. With it he says Windows 7 “does not meet up with the requirements of modern tools, nor the high security requirements of IT departments.” It’s based on a security model from almost about ten years ago as of this true point, which does not consider the nature of online threats. Nitschke says that looking forward to the official end of support to move can lead to added costs from malware.

Meanwhile, Microsoft says Windows 10 is considered the most secure OS it has ever released. It includes biometric login support, application sandboxing, and advanced threat protection via Windows Defender. These features make Windows 10 effective at repelling some threats it hasn’t even been specifically patched for yet.

With only three more several years of support, you may expect Microsoft will spend more and more time pushing this narrative that Windows 7 isn’t good anymore. It desperately https://www.extremetech.com/computing/242795-microsoft-warns-windows-7-dangerously-insecure-2017

DEC 6, 2016

Is antivirus software dead at last?

The debate about whether antivirus software is still useful happens to be going on for a couple years now. This technology was when the mainstay for the security efforts for the majority of businesses and home users. The process of late is the ability among these products and their providers to keep up with all the rapidly changing threat landscape.

The folks in the Defensive Security Podcast pointed out the other day that this debate was renewed yet again by Darren Bilby speaking at Kiwicon, who said, "we must stop investing in those ideas we now have shown do not work." He stated his position a lot more succinctly when he said: "no longer magic."

Antivirus technology is most likely older than most think, having been created in an early form in 1987 by developers who does curiously also go on to make a virus authoring kit (perhaps renewing the old humorous urban legend about antivirus companies producing viruses to keep themselves in business).

As the technology has improved over time, its basic approach has always remained the same. It appears to be at incoming data from downloads, removable media and other sources for patterns of characters, called signatures, which are proven to indicate a malicious file. When identified, any such files are quarantined to avoid compromise for the system. The database of known signatures is updated frequently to account for new signatures.

For several years, this antivirus approach was effective in avoiding the compromise of many endpoints. The math was simple -- antivirus companies could identify a fresh malware entity, and acquire their signatures updated more quickly compared to typical malware could make it over the internet.

Unfortunately, two major factors have greatly diminished the potency of antivirus technology. First, malware can traverse the online world at a consistent level nobody ever truly imagined was possible. Today, an innovative new virus may become widespread on the internet ahead of the antivirus vendors even comprehend it exists. Second, virus authors have discovered to create variants, that are version of their illicit programs that function exactly the same way, but have deliberate changes in their signature to evade antivirus programs. Because a lot of our malware happens to be distributed in kit form, even a novice can produce a malware variant to get it out on the internet very quickly.

Whilst the value of antivirus software happens to be diminishing for some time, it was arguably pushed over the edge by ransomware, which, by some recent estimates, evades 100% of antivirus systems, owing its success to the rapid succession of brand new variants.

So, is traditional antivirus software dead? Microsoft for just one will not seem to think so. While many vendors might be accused (rightly or perhaps) of supporting this technology (effective or perhaps not) to carry on reaping revenue as a result, Microsoft gives the technology away in the shape of Windows Defender, and will continue to enhance and upgrade its product. A great many other vendors have been incorporating behavioral analysis along with other techniques in their products to improve them.

One of the best arguments for antivirus software program is the reality that many infections result from old malware. Once a malware package hits the internet, there's absolutely no great way to completely remove it. Exactly the same malware, unaided by its author, can continue to show up for many years.

Given all of the facts, I continue to believe that antivirus software, despite its limitations, has a spot in our defensive strategy -- but simply as part of that strategy. Other players ought to include:

Whitelisting: Somewhat the opposite associated with antivirus signature approach. This technology only allows known good programs to perform, and prevents the execution of whatever else. This process may be a challenge to manage, but offers greatly increased endpoint protection.

Sandboxing or containerization: this method causes attachments or links, which generally carry the malware's payload, to be opened in an isolated virtual environment on a PC, containing any problems for the PC.

Behavioral analysis: this process looks at the patterns of behavior of malware, as opposed to the signatures. For example, since ransomware will begin to begin to encrypt files, behavioral analysis can observe that an abnormal quantity of files are changing in a a short time, and turn off the related process.

Privilege restriction: to be able to install itself on an endpoint, a malware program runs on an endpoint where in actuality the user gets the privilege to put in programs. If most end users are denied the privilege to set up programs themselves, most malware will not run.

Remote detonation: This is an equivalent way of sandboxing, except that the attachment is opened on an isolated remote system, containing any damage before it reaches the consumer endpoint.

Main point here: Even as promising new technologies for malware detection and prevention to enter the market, bad actors are spending so much time to find ways around them. As such, we must continue with an arsenal of tools -- including antivirus -- to truly have the best possiblity to beat the hackers.